SUPERVISOR WIENER TO CREATE WORKING GROUP TO SUPPORT LGBT NIGHTLIFE AND CREATE LGBT CULTURAL HERITAGE DISTRICT

Posted on September 12, 2016

Legislation will establish group of community leaders to work with City agencies to protect and preserve LGBT nightlife

San Francisco, CA – (September 12, 2016) Today Supervisor Wiener announced that he will introduce legislation to create a working group that will be charged with supporting LGBT nightlife and creating the long-stalled LGBT cultural heritage district. The legislation will be introduced at tomorrow’s Board of Supervisors meeting.

“Our LGBT nightlife venues are at the heart of the LGBT community, and we must proactively support and protect these sacred spaces,” said Supervisor Wiener. “LGBT nightlife venues aren’t simply places to go out and have fun, although they are certainly that. They’re also safe spaces and places where we go to build community. Generations of LGBT people have found their community at LGBT bars and nightclubs. Generations have grown up and come out in these venues. We need to make sure that these spaces continue to exist for future generations. Too many of our LGBT nightlife venues are at risk of disappearing. Now is the time for the City to step up, partner with the LGBT community, and find smart and sustainable ways to support and protect these venues.”

On Monday, Supervisor Wiener held a hearing at the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the Board of Supervisors about how best to protect and preserve LGBT nightlife spaces and how to push forward the long-stalled LGBT Cultural Heritage District. At the hearing, members of the community and representatives from the Planning Department both spoke in favor of an LGBT Nightlife Working Group being an important step towards moving the LGBT Cultural Heritage District forward, as well as being useful to supporting LGBT nightlife.

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Wiener will introduce a resolution to create the LGBT Nightlife Working Group. This group will be made up of representatives from LGBT nightlife businesses and advocates, and will be tasked with working with the Planning Department, Entertainment Commission, and Office of Economic and Workforce Development to push forward the LGBT Cultural District as well as enacting policies and programs to support LGBT nightlife.

Previously, Supervisor Wiener authored legislation to landmark the Twin Peaks Tavern in the Castro - the first gay bar with open windows. Wiener also worked closely with Heklina and her business partners to open Oasis, at 11th and Folsom and helped the owners of the revived Eagle get their business going. Earlier this summer, Supervisor Wiener authored a piece on why LGBT nightlife spaces matter, after the news spread about the looming closure of the Stud, and in the wake of the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando: LGBT Nightclubs Are Sacred Spaces: Why the Stud Matters.